Superman is walking down the street. He has a bag hanging from his belt. Someone asks, "Hey, Superman! What's that bag on your belt?" Superman gets a gleam in his eye. "Oh, this? It's my most precious possession! Want to see?" "Sure," the questioner replies. So Superman opens up the bag and shows him. It's a bag of charcoal lumps.
"Really?" the questioner asks. "Your most precious possession is a bag of charcoal?"
Superman smiles and pulls out a single lump. "Oh," he says, "don't misunderstand. It's not the charcoal." He closes his hand over the piece of charcoal, applies pressure only his superpowers can supply, then shines his laser-beam eyes on it and superheats it. When he opens his hand again, he's holding a diamond. "It's not the charcoal," he says. "It's what I can make of it."
We tend to think that we are God's prized possession. I think it's much more like that Superman illustration. Apart from Him, we're lumps. We are His prized possessions because of what He can make of us. He loves us for His purposes for His glory. And what He makes from sinners is truly precious to Him.
9 comments:
Good stuff.
But I couldn't help it: "My granddad used to chauffeur for Elvis. Of all the cars Elvis had, my granddad loved driving the King's Ford."
Well, you brought up charcoal!
I've thought about this a lot, and this notion that God loves us for what He can make us, seems to conflict that we gain our intrinsic value from being created in the image of God.
Maybe It's striking me wrong or I'm overthinking it.
In a sense, I agree with you Craig, but if you took that idea forward, then everyone should be saved. The value that causes us to be saved isn't intrinsic, but applied to us. We have intrinsic value over nature due to our being image-bearers, but it doesn't extend into the value God sees in us.
Isn't being made in the image of God something that God has made of us?
David, I don’t disagree, but the implication of the story is that there’s no value until the coal becomes a diamond. I think my problem is not so much with the message as much as it doesn’t adequately capture the whole process.
Stan,
Yes, but it seems like the story minimizes the pre diamond value.
It’s entirely possible that the problem is with my understanding instead of with the story. It’s just that something seems off to me.
Would you argue that the value we have in God's eyes is value that we hold intrinsically? Therefore, God is not operating on grace; He's operating out of necessity, trying to save the precious beings that we already are. Now, I know that's not what you would argue. Would you argue that God chooses whom He saves based on their intrinsic value? No, I'm pretty sure you wouldn't.
My point is the value we have is value applied by God and not acquired on our own.
And, like all analogies, it isn't meant to be a perfect example of the concept, but you get the idea behind it. I don't think I've ever heard a flawless analogy. I sometimes wonder if people (not necessarily you in this case) focus on the inaccuracy of an analogy as a means of ignoring the truth of the analogy.
Stan,
I agree with your point, I’m just struggling with how the story makes the point.
David,
I’m not expecting perfect, yet when something seems off it seems like it makes sense to explore what that is and if the problem is with me or the analogy.
I’m not criticizing the analogy as much as trying to figure out what about it strikes me as slightly off.
You're right, Craig. I'll stop trying to be clever.
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